The present invention relates to fishing reels of the multiplying type which are primarily intended for game fishing and which incorporate a braking mechanism for applying drag to the fishing line when it is being pulled-off the reel by a fish.
My United Kingdom Pat. No. 1,333,432 describes and claims a fishing reel of the multiplying type, comprising a spool rotatable on a shaft supported between two end housings, said shaft having a screw thread at one end screwed into a nut or other internally threaded bush supported in the adjacent end housing, means for turning the shaft and bush relative to one another so as to effect relative axial adjustment thereof by means of the screw thread connection therebetween, and a winding handle mounted on one of the end housings and arranged to rotate the spool through a friction coupling which comprises one coupling part, to which the winding handle is geared, rotatably mounted on the shaft in opposing relation to a second coupling part connected to the spool, said coupling parts being axially adjustable relative to one another in response to relative axial adjustment of the shaft and bush.
In a preferred form of the reel disclosed in the aforementioned patent, the shaft is mounted so as also to be axially movable whilst the nut is only rotatably mounted in its end housing and serves to support the end of the shaft in that end housing. At its end opposite the nut or bush, the shaft is supported in the adjacent end housing by means of a barrel, embodying a thrust bearing, to which it is secured and which is slidably and rotatably supported in a bearing in the adjacent end housing. At this end, the shaft is provided with a lever or other handle means for turning the shaft relative to the nut in order to effect axial adjustment of the parts of the friction coupling. Rotatably mounted in the end housing adjacent the nut is a manually rotatable spindle having a pinion meshing with a gear member secured to the nut. The spindle may be rotated by a knob on the outside of the end housing and this knob is normally used to set the free-spool position (that is the position in which the friction coupling is disengaged) of the range over which the friction coupling pressure can be quickly varied by the lever attached to the shaft.
The winding handle is geared to the said one coupling part of the friction coupling by a gear wheel which is driven by the winding handle and meshes with a pinion rotatably mounted on the shaft and is fixed to said one coupling part. A pawl and ratchet device prevents the said one coupling part from rotating in the unwinding direction of the spool so that said one coupling part applies a braking force to the spool and drag to the fishing line when it is being pulled-off the reel by a fish. The amount of drag applied is adjustable primarily by means of the lever. However, the knob may be used to increase the braking pressure above that produced merely by moving the lever to its full braking position, if this should prove necessary or desirable during playing of a fish.
Whilst the reel described in my United Kingdom Pat. No. 1,333,432 works extremely satisfactorily in practice, it is unduly complicated.